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Utah won 11 games last year and dominated in the finishing kick, but as the third-best team in the Big 12, it didn’t get close to the College Football Playoff.
This year’s team under new head coach Morgan Scalley should lean even more on the high-powered running game, even with a revamped offensive front.
The schedule is more than manageable over the first six weeks, but to get where they want to go, the Utes need every game to sharpen up under the new coaching staff.
Utah vs Idaho: Quick Hits
Idaho started the season with a heartbreaker, losing to Cal Poly 38-34 on a 34-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds to play.
New season, new teams, new personnel, but for what it’s worth, Utah beat Cal Poly 63-9 early last season.
Utah has beaten the last four FCS teams it faced by a combined score of 216 to 23.
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How To Watch Utah vs Idaho
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
Game Time: 9:00 pm ET
TV: ESPNU
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT
– CFN Week 1 Schedule, Predictions
Why Idaho Will Win
Idaho played relatively well, even with the defensive fail in the fantastic finish against Cal Poly. Quarterback Joshua Wood threw for 363 yards and two scores, and he’s about to try bombing away against the Ute secondary.
The Vandals don’t have a prayer of running against the Utah front that wasn’t good last year, but will be strong in this. The Utes lost a ton of parts in the secondary and it’ll use this game to try finding the right rotation.
Why Utah Will Win
Utah might run for 400 yards against the Idaho defense.
Cal Poly was able to move the ball at will, but it was mostly from the passing game. Utah won’t do anything quirky here. Line up, smash away, run it at least 50 times, make the other side stop it.
Quarterback Devon Dampier will take off for enough yards to matter, but it’ll be Wayshawn Parker and Daniel Bray who take over early on with a steady stream of five yard carries.
– Utah 2026 Preview
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Utah vs Idaho Prediction, Betting Lines
The new Utah coaching staff doesn’t have to make any sort of statement, but it will want to.
Last year’s Ute team wiped out everyone but BYU, Texas Tech, and Kansas State. This one will want to prove a point with a huge number in Scalley’s first season opener.
Utah 55, Idaho 10
Latest Consensus Line: Utah -34.5, o/u: 56.5
ATS Confidence (out of 5): 3.5
Must See Rating (out of 5): 2
Consensus line based on BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
